The first Friday of the fall high school sports season in Missouri offers up something of a gift for most teams.
Like everyone else, the programs at Warrenton and Wright City learned of their postseason district tournament assignments – except cross country, which is still forthcoming.
On the football field, Wright City and Warrenton will face different postseason looks.
Wright City, which played at home – defeating Principia – before falling at Borgia, will once again have the Knights in the Class 3 District 4 tournament. But the team will have less local flavor at the event, as it's been switched up to include Eldon, Fulton, Hallsville, Owensville and Southern Boone out of Mid-Missouri this season.
Wright City Coach John Klekamp said that the new dynamic will lead to scoreboard watching but the ultimate goals for the Wildcats will remain unchanged.
“I am interested in our current football district as you have a good team in Borgia and then a list of schools that have been good in recent history,” Klekamp said. “It will make for an interesting district as I think there will be a lot of maneuvering within the district as teams begin their conference play. It will be interesting to see how other schools move as they win and/or lose and play up in class. Our goal is first to host another district playoff game and then secondly to win that game.”
For Warrenton, whose season ended in suburban Kansas City last year, the Warriors will get the chance to be much closer to home as Class 4 District 4 features Hannibal, Holt, Orchard Farm, Parkway North, St. Charles and St. Charles West.
Warrenton will face each team in the regular season, except Hannibal and Parkway North, as the others are conference foes.
Warrenton Coach Jason Koper said his goal is to focus on what his team can control and not to worry about anyone else.
“My opinion of our district is (that it) doesn’t matter who is assigned to our district,” Koper said. “My goals are that we get better every week, and (that) we are playing our best football at the end of the season.”
The 2026 MSHSAA softball district assignments for Warrenton and Wright City will change the approach to October’s postseason.
For Wright City, competing in the Class 3 District 3 tournament will provide a significant change in venue. After competing at Owensville a season ago, the Wildcats will be closer to home with Bayless, Bowling Green, Lutheran St. Charles (with Veritas), Maplewood-Richmond Heights (with Brentwood), Orchard Farm, STEAM Academy and Winfield in the team’s district.
With the scheduling process long over, Wildcats Coach Fred Ross is less than pleased with the result.
“Our district was a substantial change,” Ross said. “It is hard to set up a schedule with common opponents when the state totally changes your district each year. This year, our district that we were in last year only has seven teams, so the state could have kept us in the same district. That being said, I think this year's district has five quality teams that could win the district. Winfield, Bowling Green, Lutheran and Orchard Farm all should be solid, and hopefully we can compete with all of them.”
Like Wright City, the Warrenton softball team’s postseason assignment changes this season.
The Class 4 District 3 event will include Hannibal, Holt, Pacific, St. Dominic, Borgia, Union, Washington and the Warriors.
While Warrenton Coach Chad Berrey and the Warriors won’t have to travel nearly as much for the postseason tournament, the level of competition is certainly stiffer this season.
“When we received our district assignments, I was pretty shocked,” Berrey said. “For the past few years, we have had to travel to Jefferson City and compete with other schools around central Missouri. It made for some long bus rides and late nights. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that we will be playing postseason closer to home. Another positive from our district assignment this season is that we play a majority of the teams during the regular season. It will make district seating meetings pretty straightforward with more validity to the seedlings. As we are just beginning our season and districts still feel far away, it helps stir fire and excitement for the season.”
While the Warriors will not have to travel as far and will know the competition, any draw the team gets in the tournament won’t be easy.
“I would say the district we have been placed in is probably one of the toughest districts in Class 4,” Berrey said. “That said, the more I see our girls perform, the more optimistic I get. This year's team holds a lot of competitors, and we’re ready to get to work.”
In boys’ soccer, Wright City will compete in Class 2 District 4 with Duchesne, Lutheran St. Charles, Orchard Farm, St. Charles West, Veritas and Winfield.
The Class 3 District 4 soccer tournament will feature Warrenton, Fort Zumwalt East, Fort Zumwalt South, Hannibal, Holt, McCluer North, St. Charles and St. Dominic.
Much like the Warrenton softball team, Warriors’ soccer coach Jake Brown said his team will be ready when the time comes for win-or-go-home games.
“Our District is going to be tough,” Brown said. “We are ready to compete against anyone on the other side of the field.”
On the volleyball court, Wright City will compete in the Class 3 District 6 tournament, which features Bowling Green, Mexico, Fulton and Borgia.
In Class 4, Warrenton will compete in the District 4 event against Fort Zumwalt East, Fort Zumwalt South, Hannibal, Holt, Kirksville, Orchard Farm, St. Charles, and St. Dominic.
In golf, Wright City will compete in Class 2 District 1, while Warrenton will take part in Class 3 District 2.
